


when dawn breaks

by tkreyesevandiaz



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Buck doesn't know what to do with all this LOVE, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Early Mornings, Family Fluff, M/M, Married Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Married Life, Morning Routines, Soft Boys, Soft Eddie Diaz, Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, i don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24686497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tkreyesevandiaz/pseuds/tkreyesevandiaz
Summary: Watching Eddie get ready for work is hands-down Buck’s favourite part of any day. There’s something about seeing the older man move around their space, a domesticity he didn’t think he’d ever find, much less with his best friend.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 49
Kudos: 395





	when dawn breaks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elisela](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elisela/gifts).



> First: I don't wanna hear any Twilight jokes, period. xD Don't ruin this title for me, please :')
> 
> This fic is for my darling Eli, who's on Tumblr as @hearteyesforbuck and AO3 as @elisela (her fics are brilliant, check them out y'all.) I have like 17 other fics that I need to be writing, but I saw [her post](https://hearteyesforbuck.tumblr.com/post/620642127620259840/whos-taking-prompts-because-i-really-just-want) on Tumblr and I just had to.
> 
> Why did I choose this tense again? I don't know. But there's a cute little surprise down there that I think y'all will love ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

He’s the luckiest man in the universe, Buck decides blearily as he blinks his eyes open.

Like clockwork, Eddie’s alarm goes off at an inordinately early hour; early enough that the sun’s rays are barely streaming through the blinds. And although the older man tries his best to stay quiet, Buck’s too light of a sleeper.

But he isn’t mad about being awoken this early. Not when he gets to bask in domestic bliss with his husband like this, before the kids get up and the city breaks from its slumber. 

This is a sight only _he_ gets to indulge in, to the backdrop of the quiet of dawn. The sun is just about breaking on the horizon, birds faintly chirping through the double-insulated windows. And next to him, the man that gleams like gold in every facet of his life rouses awake. 

Eddie shifts slightly, dislodging himself from where they’re pressed together from head to toe, limbs tangled to the point where they can’t discern which belongs to who.

Just like every morning, Eddie presses a light kiss to his temple, a silent apology as the warmth of his body disappears, leaving Buck’s sleep-worn skin pebbled with the harsh cold. And just like every time he does it, Buck’s lips quirk up into a half-smile even as he shivers under the covers.

The novelty of watching Eddie should’ve worn off by now, Buck thinks as he swings his legs off the side. 5 years of togetherness, 4 and a half of those years married. Every inch of his husband is as familiar to him as his own shadow, yet Buck never tires of indulging himself in the sight of Eddie in the mornings, so imperfect and beautiful in the dimness of the room. He didn’t think he’d _ever_ tire of soaking this image of the open, vulnerable man he married first thing in the morning.

Like every morning, he shifts to bury his cheek into Eddie’s pillow, watching him from half-lidded eyes. The faint smile on his face grows as he watches his husband pull his work clothes out and set them on top of the dresser, still shirtless and sleep-wrinkled. His hair’s in a complete rat’s nest, some from Buck running his fingers through it last night and some from sleeping.

Watching Eddie get ready for work is hands-down Buck’s favourite part of any day. There’s something about seeing the older man move around their space, a domesticity he didn’t think he’d ever find, much less with his best friend. 

In the mornings, Eddie’s less likely to use humor to deflect, less likely to push away his vulnerability. In the four walls of their room, before anyone’s awake, Eddie isn’t playing a role and neither is Buck. Here...they get to be laid open in a way that would’ve made them feel naked anywhere else. It’s a privilege Buck never takes for granted, the ability to be stripped bare without any fear, the honor of being able to witness his husband like that.

In the here and now, this Eddie was _his_ Eddie.

And there was something inherently sexy about watching those capable hands, too. The hands that had just pressed love, adoration and trust into every part of Buck’s body mere hours ago, now moving around the space with a single-minded purpose.

Buck thinks that he could wax poetry about the magnificence that is Eddie Diaz in the morning. The only thing he doesn’t know is how to use mere letters to capture that beauty. 

He can imagine stretching his hands across the expanse of Eddie’s torso, warm and pliant canvas rippling beneath his fingertips, calluses inciting goosebumps on the soft swathe of tan skin. He can see each of the freckles dotting Eddie’s shoulders and back, can mentally connect each of them into constellations that burn brighter than the night sky. 

Buck almost gives himself away to do just that; to run his fingers into each divot and dip of Eddie’s muscles, watching his husband smile softly at him as he maps familiar territory with his lips, his tongue, his teeth. Turn him around to ghost kisses across his body, spend the rare soundless moments drowning in Eddie’s unbridled affection.

But he stays quiet, tracking him until he shuts the door to the bathroom gently behind him. It’s only then that he moves further, completely settling his body into the warm space left behind. 

The next few minutes are spent in reflective silence as Buck burrows himself further into Eddie’s side of the bed, his eyes slipping closed at the scent of the love of his life surrounding him. He’s far too coherent to fall back to sleep at all, but he’s content here, relaxing into the mattress.

Buck’s not scheduled to work at all today, so he can afford these quiet moments before Christopher and Vera burst in, demanding him to make breakfast while dragging Eddie out of the room to shower them in any amount of attention. 

It’s another one of his favourite sides of Eddie; seeing the family man in him is a view that Buck would happily overwhelm himself with. When Eddie patiently works through math problems with Christopher, or throws Vera up into airplanes that make her shriek with laughter, or comes around to feather affection on Buck’s skin as they curl up together.

His heart feels too heavy with the weight of all this love.

Buck's thoughts halt as the door opens, and he slits his eyes to peer at the silhouette of Eddie's body.

 _Eddie Diaz is a tease,_ Buck thinks as his husband walks out with nothing but a towel around his waist. It’s still too dark to see the lines of his body clearly, but Buck can imagine the water dripping from his wet hair, trailing down his face and pooling into the hollow of Eddie’s strong throat, only to skate down his torso to the towel.

Buck wants to follow that drop with his tongue, and by the gathering core of need in his stomach, his body's on-board with it.

It’s an image that probably won’t leave him for life.

He must make a sound as Eddie pulls his jeans up and fastens them, because his quiet laughter breaks the stillness of the room. Suddenly, the room seems a little brighter, waking up with them now that they’ve had their first interaction of the day. 

“Enjoying the show?”

Buck grunts in reply, tilting his neck to meet his husband’s amused gaze as he throws a shirt on.

It should be a crime to cover all that skin, but Eddie’s standing close enough that Buck can pull him close with a finger hooked in his pocket, so he does just that. Eddie laughs again but leans down to press a kiss to his lips. “Good morning, love.”

He hums, curling his fingers next to the LAFD logo on his chest to keep him close. “Good morning.”

Eddie smiles against his mouth and pulls away to continue his routine. Buck turns over and heaves himself up slightly, scrubbing a hand down his face as he tilts back against the rails at the head of their bed. He makes no move to get up, though, instead folding his hands in his lap as he continues to admire unabashedly. 

Eddie’s busy combing the unruly mess on his head in front of the mirror on the side wall.

“I like your hair like that,” Buck says absently, relishing the lopsided grin on his husband’s face. Eddie’s hair was beginning to dry, leaving curled tips already sticking up without his normal gel. Not quite as curly as the rat’s nest on top of Buck’s head, but wavy enough to pull a few curses from Eddie as he combs through it.

“ _You_ do, but I can’t go to work looking like I stuck my fingers in a socket,” he replies, swearing under his breath at a particularly harsh tug.

“Come here,” Buck says softly, gesturing for the brush. Eddie follows willingly, and sits down on the side of the bed within Buck’s reach. “No one asked you to _yank_ the brush through your hair. You’re going to go bald.”

“Do you have to say that _this_ early in the morning?” Eddie complains, but tilts into Buck’s touch as he runs the brush gently though Eddie’s hair, patiently working out the knots and brushing the strands up and back the way he likes it. As always, running fingers through his hair gets Eddie to melt into him immediately, bristles scratching at his scalp as they drag through wet strands. 

He’s so glad that Eddie doesn’t buzz it off anymore.

It takes less time than he would’ve liked, but Eddie’s still boneless under his hands, to the point where he'd purr if he could. Buck indulges himself a little more and wraps his arms around Eddie, swatting at his arm when he chuckles at his usual clinginess. 

“Stay safe, okay?” Buck whispers against his shoulder. Eddie nods and turns his head to ghost his lips across the side of his head.

“I’ll try my best.” He smiles and stands up, but not without stealing another soft kiss. “I love you.” 

Just like the first kiss they’d shared all those years back, the press of Eddie’s lips settles the rest of his nerves.

Buck admires Eddie’s form as he goes through the motions of slicking his hair back with gel, putting on his watch, slipping his wallet into his back pocket and phone into the front one. Eddie makes the most mundane tasks look so inherently _good_ that Buck doesn’t quite know what to do with himself. 

But by far, his most favourite part of Eddie’s morning routine is watching him twist his wedding ring around. 

They both slept with the bands on, neither of them taking them off if they didn’t have to. When they had to (for work), the metal was reluctantly replaced with silicone but the underlying message was the same; this man’s _taken_. 

Buck noticed his husband doing it by fluke; a few too many mornings of Eddie spending one or two seconds staring at the band with the softest smile Buck had ever seen from him, twisting it round and round right before he replaced it with the simple, black silicone ring. 

It was only after he noticed the repetitive motion that Buck realized that Eddie did it to make sure the wedding band was still there, reminding himself that he was enough. Those were the words Buck had whispered to him as he slid the ring on, and in one of these mornings, Eddie had revealed that those were the words that he thought of every time he looked at it.

Those moments warmed his heart to the point where Buck thought he’d burst into flames. 

The sight of his ring on Eddie’s finger always burned hot through him, their wedding playing through his mind vividly with each sight of either band.

He usually did the same thing, but he did it to remind himself that he had a family to come home to. When Eddie crashed into his life seven years ago, Buck had always thought of himself as the most expendable member on the team, so to speak. He didn’t have anyone to go home to, didn’t have anyone waiting for him, no one depending on him.

Sometimes, those insecurities still crashed over him, especially in situations where the risk was either Buck or Eddie. But the feel of his ring always tethered him, made sure he didn’t take unnecessary actions to put himself in danger. Even if he always fought to make sure at least Eddie was safe.

Shaking off those thoughts, Buck looks back up at Eddie, who was leaning against the wall, eyebrows quirked up knowingly.

“Where’d you go?”

“Nowhere.” Buck smiles at him, changing the subject. “How’d you know I was watching you?”

Eddie snorts, coming to perch on the side of the bed again. “I’m an ex-soldier and a firefighter _and_ a dad. All three that require me to be fast on my feet. I knew you were awake before I even got out of bed.”

“Okay, Mr. Staff-Sergeant-Army-Medic. No need to _brag_ ,” Buck grumbles, rolling his eyes even as Eddie reaches for him.

“It’s been 7 years, Buck. Get over it,” he points out in a whisper, pushing him onto his back. Buck laughs but savours the feel of Eddie’s weight on top of him as his husband connects their lips together.

The kiss is familiar, warm and flares between them to the point where Buck thinks they've been set on fire. He drags his lips along Eddie's freshly trimmed stubble, careful not to leave hickeys where they'd easily be seen. He groans quietly as Eddie's hips roll into his own, despite him panting that he’s getting late for work.

As usual, they’re only _just_ getting into exchanging heated kisses when their heavily-trained ears register the sound of their three-year-old’s fast pitter-patters and barely-restrained shouts of excitement.

“There she comes.” Eddie scrambles off of him, fixing his clothes and hair while Buck sits up, wiping a hand down his face as if that’ll clear some of the heat from his skin.

“Why did they have to take after _you_ in waking up early?” Buck asks, only half-teasing. He wouldn’t change it for the world, but it’d be nice for these moments to never end. Eddie simply rolls his eyes at the quip.

Vera’s old enough to twist the door handle whenever she wants (much to their indignation) but Eddie opens the door for her anyway, swinging her into his arms and blowing raspberries on her adorable cheeks.

As their daughter lets out a joyful squeal that bounces off the walls of the house, Buck beams so widely he thinks his face will split from the force of it. 

They’d researched so many options to expand their family. And while they’d been leaning towards adoption, one night, Eddie had asked if Buck wanted his own kids. He’d frozen at the question, but the truth was that he _had_ wanted at least one biological kid of his own. He knew better than anyone else that blood didn’t make someone family, but he’d wanted to know what the joy of fathering a child was. He’d just thought that it wasn’t on the table after marrying Eddie, so he hadn’t brought it up.

But his husband had seen right through him, and together, they opted for surrogacy, one of Eddie's sisters offering to donate an egg. It took them 8 months to find a suitable surrogate and finally get pregnant, but when they did, nothing compared to that happiness. 

9 months after that, they had Vera Madelyn Diaz in their arms and their family was complete.

“Are they decent?” Christopher peeks his head in with a cheeky grin. At fourteen, he’s growing into his height and unfortunately enough, the teenager attitude as well, but they were lucky enough that he’s still the sweetest kid on the planet. “Morning, guys.”

“Good morning,” Buck yawns, finally crawling out of bed. “What’s for breakfast today?” 

“Cake!” Vera chirps from Eddie’s arms, reaching out for Buck. “Papa, we haf-ta make cake.” Her insistent tone makes them laugh, but Buck’s heart melts as she throws her little arms around his neck.

“Pancakes, sweetheart,” Eddie corrects bemusedly, herding them all out of the bedroom door. “And you three will have to eat without me today, I’m already running late.”

Eddie kisses Vera’s head, ruffles Christopher’s hair and leans up to give Buck a long kiss, much to the mixed amusement-slash-disgust of their kids. Buck sets Vera down on the couch with Chris before following Eddie out to the entrance way.

“Bye Dad!” Christopher pipes up, leading his sister to repeat the sentiment enthusiastically. 

“Bye, kids!” he yells back. Then, turning to him, Eddie draws Buck into a hug.

This sort of physical affection is something they only afford themselves in the privacy of their own home, both too uncomfortable initiating intimate kisses and hugs outside of it. Here, neither of them are scared to press into each other's space.

“Promise I’ll be careful,” Eddie murmurs softly in his ear. “I love you.” 

“I love you too!” Buck calls after him as he rushes out of the door. “How is he always late after waking up so damn early?” he mutters under his breath, shaking his head at his husband as he shuts the front door.

Vera and Chris hound him the second he steps into view dragging him off to the kitchen to make them pancakes, to which Buck rolls his eyes but follows. 

As he loses himself in the chaos of the morning, dropping chocolate chips over pancakes, Buck thinks - not for the first time - that becoming Evan Diaz was the best thing he’d ever done.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have the words to describe the beauty that's Eddie Diaz in the morning either but this ended up being 2000+ words anyway so what's the truth?
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I hope you all liked it!! I'm still struggling with my writing but I hope that I can get some new content rolled out for you all! Also Vera's probably going to be my name for one of their daughters so I'm patenting the name right now lmao.
> 
> My cousin chose Vera's name so everyone say thank you to her.
> 
> Kudos and Comments make my day, so thank you to everyone who leaves them!
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at [zeethebooknerd](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/zeethebooknerd) or on Twitter at [tkreyesevandiaz](https://twitter.com/tkreyesevandiaz).


End file.
